Nerdy Legal View of Ticketmaster/LiveNation Merger

[dclawyer]

There is lots of concern out there how the merger will effect U2 ticket sales. Since Ticketbastard already screws people over at will (see recent Springsteen fiasco) will this merger make things better or make things worse?

Well, the first answer is-at least we won't know in time for the ticketing of the first leg of the tour. And we may not ever know at all. Before TM and LN can merge, they have to get approval by the US federal government. Under the Bush administration, they rubber stamped these sorts of mergers and let potential monopoly creating enterprises develop (see Sirius satellite and XM satellite radio merger). Whether the Obama admnistration will do the same remains to be seen. What we do know is that it will take several months, potentially up to a year, for the regulatory process to occur.

So rest assured, if we are screwed over for tickets it will be because of the status quo for awhile, not because of a new, oligopoly, terrifying, beast with two backs merger.

 

[4U2Play]

Under the Bush administration, they rubber stamped these sorts of mergers and let potential monopoly creating enterprises develop (see Sirius satellite and XM satellite radio merger).

The Bush administration did the exact opposite of what you claim regarding the Sirius/XM merger... they stalled it for as long as possible, causing both companies to lose millions of dollars more than would have had they been able to merge sooner.

Live Nation is Clear Channel. Just as greedy and corrupt as TicketMaster. Whether they merge or not is irrelevant, both will continue to screw concert-goers either as one entity or two.

 

[theticketman]

before any tickets make it to the public sale, livenation, ticketmaster, have already taken most of the great seats for any show, ive been going to concerts since 1970, back in the day i would get 1st row floor, 2nd row floor, ive had front row for bands like queen,u2,stones,boston, pink floyd, ahhh those days are long gone, its a real shame you never have a chance at these seats any more for face value, there already gone to ticketsnow before tickets go onsale......my best ticket experience, sleeping out for guns n roses in front of the orpheum theater in boston, i was first in line, the gentlemen who worked the ticket office came out side and asked me how long ive been in line, told him 28 hrs, he looks at me and says you want floor seats right?.i said yup sure do..when i stepped up to his window at 10am, he gave me a big smile..heres your front row guns n roses tickets!!!! still have the stub..sec B, row A............................GONE FOREVER..

 

[4U2Play]

before any tickets make it to the public sale, livenation, ticketmaster, have already taken most of the great seats for any show

I don't think that's the normal practice, but it'll be interesting to see how the Springsteen ticket fiasco plays out.

Most of the best seats are reserved by the band (for friends, family and the fan club) and the promoter (or the casino, in the case of Vegas). If you wait long enough, some of these prime seats do become available at the venue on the day of the show, or on TM or LN.

This was the case at all the biggest shows over the past year (Metallica, Coldplay, AC/DC, Madonna, etc). If you sat in good seats at any one of these shows and spoke to the people around you, you'd have found that many of them are connected to the artist somehow, or bought their tickets that same day at the box office.

 

[djparky]

I don't think that's the normal practice, but it'll be interesting to see how the Springsteen ticket fiasco plays out.

Most of the best seats are reserved by the band (for friends, family and the fan club) and the promoter (or the casino, in the case of Vegas). If you wait long enough, some of these prime seats do become available at the venue on the day of the show, or on TM or LN.

This was the case at all the biggest shows over the past year (Metallica, Coldplay, AC/DC, Madonna, etc). If you sat in good seats at any one of these shows and spoke to the people around you, you'd have found that many of them are connected to the artist somehow, or bought their tickets that same day at the box office.

correct- or they try to sell them as VIP tickets for really stupid money... but yes tickets come up at the front near show time- I got front row next to the catwalk for George Michael at Earls Court last year about 6 hours before the show started

 

[BGD75]

I don't think that's the normal practice, but it'll be interesting to see how the Springsteen ticket fiasco plays out.

Most of the best seats are reserved by the band (for friends, family and the fan club) and the promoter (or the casino, in the case of Vegas). If you wait long enough, some of these prime seats do become available at the venue on the day of the show, or on TM or LN.

This was the case at all the biggest shows over the past year (Metallica, Coldplay, AC/DC, Madonna, etc). If you sat in good seats at any one of these shows and spoke to the people around you, you'd have found that many of them are connected to the artist somehow, or bought their tickets that same day at the box office.

that's exactly how I got my tickets for VERTIGO Montreal - day of the show. 4th row, Edge's side....By far the best seats I've ever had for a U2 show

 

[editorinchief]

before any tickets make it to the public sale, livenation, ticketmaster, have already taken most of the great seats for any show, ive been going to concerts since 1970, back in the day i would get 1st row floor, 2nd row floor, ive had front row for bands like queen,u2,stones,boston, pink floyd, ahhh those days are long gone, its a real shame you never have a chance at these seats any more for face value, there already gone to ticketsnow before tickets go onsale......my best ticket experience, sleeping out for guns n roses in front of the orpheum theater in boston, i was first in line, the gentlemen who worked the ticket office came out side and asked me how long ive been in line, told him 28 hrs, he looks at me and says you want floor seats right?.i said yup sure do..when i stepped up to his window at 10am, he gave me a big smile..heres your front row guns n roses tickets!!!! still have the stub..sec B, row A............................GONE FOREVER..

Row DD is the front row at the Orhpheum. There is no section "B". There is only Orchestra,Mezzanine and Balcony.

 

[theticketman]

thats where i slept out for the tickets!!! the show was at the boston garden, the orpheum use to be a ticketmaster...check out the garden seating chart sec B row A...FRONT ROW..no need for stories...